Providence will look to unlock the potential of Northwestern transfer Arrinten Page
The remodeling of the Providence Friars continued on Friday night, as 6’11, 245-pound Northwestern transfer Arrinten Page committed to Bryan Hodgson and PC.
While Hodgson and his staff have aimed high on the wings and in the backcourt this spring, it appears as though they have taken a more pragmatic approach to the interior as the center market has exploded.
They added a steady veteran in 6’9 Yale transfer Samson Aletan (7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks) earlier in the week, and they’ll pair him with the broader Page at the center spot next season.
Aletan has spent his entire three-year career at Yale. He boasts very good defensive metrics and played for a team that won at least 22 games every year — reaching the NCAA Tournament twice.
Page, meanwhile, fits a different mold. He was a top-50 recruit coming out of famed Wheeler in Atlanta (where Jaylen Brown and Shareef Abdur-Rahim once shined).
Providence will be his fourth college stop, as he began at USC, went to Cincinnati as a sophomore, then suited up for Northwestern this year.
He saw limited minutes at USC and Cincinnati, averaging 9-10 minutes a night over the first two years of his career.
Page’s playing time then jumped at Northwestern, as he started 16 of 29 games and averaged 10.2 points and 4.5 rebounds. He displayed a rather varied offensive game with the ability to post, pass, and make plays off the dribble.
Perhaps the biggest red flag was his decreasing minutes as the year unfolded at Northwestern. Page started the year very strong, highlighted by an 18-point, 12-rebound effort in the season opener, which was later followed by a 22-point outburst against DePaul. He also enjoyed a 21-point effort against Wisconsin and scored 20 more when Northwestern played Virginia.
His production and minutes dipped in Big Ten play, however:
Non-conference: 27.1 minutes, 14.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 66% shooting from two, 27% beyond the arc (on 1.8 attempts)
Big Ten competition: 20.6 minutes, 8.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 59% shooting from two, 23% beyond the arc (on 1.4 attempts)
Page has one career double-figure rebounding game (against Mercyhurst), but brings a measure of offensive skill — with potential as a pick-and-pop threat mixed in with flashes of good passing ability and creation off the bounce.
His offensive metrics are promising. On a pure Points Per Possession basis, Page ranked in the 79th percentile nationally (1.035), and he finished in the 97th percentile in scoring at the rim thanks to 81% shooting inside.
Page can face defenders up, has some post ability (49 post-up possessions last year), and runs the floor well for his size.
Defensively, his numbers slowing post scorers are terrific, while his defensive pick and roll stats are quite the opposite. A large part of that had more to do with playing so many teams in the Big Ten that featured centers with easy range beyond the 3-point arc. Page would hedge a screen and have a long recovery out to the shooters at schools like Illinois and Nebraska.
The Fit at Providence
It would appear that Hodgson and his staff targeted Page for a variety of reasons. His body type and game balance out the leaner, more defensive-minded Aletan in the middle.
Hodgson spoke at length about spending the budget wisely, and as so many high major schools are dropping a reported $3-4M on centers, Hodgson invested heavily in guards and wings — and has done so effectively.
College basketball is notoriously filled with groupthink, and after Michigan, Florida, and UConn won national titles behind dominant centers, the cost of bigs has exploded.
Providence looks to have gone in the direction of steady play behind a two-headed center versus entering the arms race for a top-of-the-market big man. Conversely, the staff has three years of tape on both big men, so they should have a firm grasp of their capabilities.
Despite three years of experience, there’s an untapped potential in Page that is likely quite appealing to them.
Here’s a look at three-and-a-half minutes of unfiltered possessions of Page from late in the season. You’ll see makes and assists mixed in with misses and turnovers, providing a realistic perspective of his game:
If you want just pure highlights from his entire career, we’ve got that too (we’ve even got some commentary from the late Bill Walton mixed in from Page’s freshman year at USC):
Page has more offensive skill than anything PC’s centers offered the past two seasons. Of all the plays included in this footage, the passing ability is perhaps the most encouraging.
Ultimately, Page provides a blend of size, skill, and a measure of upside that fits Providence’s strategy of building smarter rather than spending big on the interior.
To what extent the calculated bet of pairing Aletan and Page pays off will be a key storyline for the Friars in 2026-27.
We got our big man in the middle. Impressed by the highlights. Love the passing ability to open guys. Could be a real sleeper this year.